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CHP’S WAR FOR POWER: NEW FRONTS ON EVERY SIDE
Capital Currents Oct 24, 2025

CHP’S WAR FOR POWER: NEW FRONTS ON EVERY SIDE

With the “change” endorsement from Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Özgür Özel became CHP chair and will mark his second year in office in just ten days. Many see this as the “most difficult two years” in the party’s 102-year history, as policies were revised and key positions changed. While also battling lawsuits to annul its congress and ongoing operations against municipalities, the CHP seems poised to fight on new fronts—starting with the possible lifting of parliamentary immunities—as the election calendar nears.

Nergis Demirkaya
SEPTEMBER STORM IN CHP: FEARS OF A SPLIT
Capital Currents Sep 5, 2025

SEPTEMBER STORM IN CHP: FEARS OF A SPLIT

September was expected to be tough for the CHP due to ongoing investigations and trials—but no one expected a storm of this magnitude. Having fought operations targeting its municipalities for the past nine months, the CHP is now shaken by the court decision that appointed a “trustee” to its Istanbul congress. CHP members, calling this a “new judicial coup,” saw the move as the extension of operations against municipalities into the party itself. Speculation has grown that a trustee could also be appointed to the party headquarters in the coming days.

Nergis Demirkaya
ERDOĞAN PUSHES FOR DEFENSE TIES AS MACRON FOCUSES ON UKRAINE SECURITY
Foreign Affairs Aug 21, 2025

ERDOĞAN PUSHES FOR DEFENSE TIES AS MACRON FOCUSES ON UKRAINE SECURITY

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call on Aug. 21, their first direct contact since the NATO summit in June. The two leaders discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza, and bilateral cooperation, with Erdoğan again stressing Ankara’s interest in deepening defense ties with France. Both later shared posts on X, tagging each other in messages that underlined common concerns but also revealed different priorities. On bilateral ties, Erdoğan said Turkey valued closer cooperation with France, particularly in the defense industry, and wanted to keep advancing relations across multiple fields. Ankara has long sought approval from Paris to procure European air-defense systems. A green light for the sale of Eurosam GIE’s SAMP/T could accelerate Turkey’s plan to build its own missile shield, described as a “steel dome,” within two to three years.

Editorial Team
MINISTRY DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN CAVE
Security and Defense Aug 8, 2025

MINISTRY DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN CAVE

The Defense Ministry has completed its investigation into the deaths of 12 soldiers who were exposed to methane gas in a cave in northern Iraq during a search operation on July 6, concluding that there was no evidence of negligence or misconduct on the part of the commanders involved in the incident.

Editorial Team
CHP’S RELENTLESS RALLIES FAIL TO SWAY CORRUPTION PROBE
Inside Turkey Aug 1, 2025

CHP’S RELENTLESS RALLIES FAIL TO SWAY CORRUPTION PROBE

Since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s detention on March 19, the CHP has held 40 rallies despite no upcoming elections, yet failed to shift the political agenda. The party opened İmamoğlu’s first campaign office in its Çankaya stronghold in Ankara, only to see its provincial chair dismissed days later. Though operations against Istanbul Municipality slowed, confessions from businessperson Aziz İhsan Aktaş continue to dominate headlines. A fresh wave of arrests targeted subsidiaries ISFALT and IETT, as well as tender officials.

Editorial Team
TURKEY AND FRANCE: STRATEGIC RIVALS, RELUCTANT PARTNERS
Guest Voices Jul 25, 2025

TURKEY AND FRANCE: STRATEGIC RIVALS, RELUCTANT PARTNERS

Turkey and France, NATO allies and regional heavyweights, are locked in a relationship best described as a cocktail of competition, cooperation, and confrontation. Despite shared interests in trade and global security, Ankara and Paris appear increasingly out of step on strategic and ideological matters even as flashpoints multiply.

Guest Voices
SYMBOL OF FEAR RETURNS
Inside Turkey Jul 25, 2025

SYMBOL OF FEAR RETURNS

One of the prosecutors overseeing the case against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has come under fire after CHP Chair Özgür Özel revealed that the prosecutor displays a model of a Beyaz Toros—a car widely associated with disappearances and state violence in the 1990s. İmamoğlu, who has been held at Silivri Prison since his March 19 arrest, recounted the incident during an interview with journalist Ruşen Çakır of Medyascope as he visited the Istanbul Mayor in prison. İmamoğlu said the prosecutor, who took his testimony following the sweeping police operation, placed a symbolic image of the white Renault Toros on his desk and ended the interrogation by saying: “Tomorrow you become president, then you judge us.”

Editorial Team